August - 2017

The Story of Zenmatsu: The First Japanese on the Sandwich Islands

The Story of Zenmatsu: The First Japanese on the Sandwich Islands

Unlike Otokichi in my book, Hirahara Zenmatsu and the rest of crew of the Inawaka-maru made it to Edo. They even enjoyed the New Year’s celebration in the great capital with visits to the temple to usher in 1806, filling their stomachs with mocha, pounded sticky rice with bean paste, traditional New Year’s food. On the way home on January 8, they were caught in a storm that blew them into the Pacific Ocean. In a month’s time, the crew ran out of water and food. When the sur

Book Review & Craft: The Question of Hu

Book Review & Craft: The Question of Hu

Jonathan Spence’s The Question of Hu (Vintage, 1989) is an account of a French Jesuit missionary Foucquet who brought a devout Chinese Catholic named Hu over to France as a scribe in1722. Spence gathers the clues to answer whether Hu was insane, or was it in fact a cultural misunderstanding? Luckily for creative nonfiction writers, Jonathan Spence is an historian who believes in the importance of storytelling. The viewpoint is mainly from the perspective of Foucquet, who kept

Makah Chief Yelak’ub: From Cook to "Antagonizer"

Makah Chief Yelak’ub: From Cook to "Antagonizer"

By the time the Japanese sailor Otokichi landed on the shores of Cape Flattery in 1834, the Hudson's Bay Company had already established a network of forts and trading posts throughout the northwest region. One of the members of the Makah tribe Chief Yelak'ub was only a few years older than Otokichi, but he was already a leader fighting every inch for the land and rights of his people: A lesson for Otokichi, who would later have to confront the West and its arrival at his nat

How Two Japanese Sailors First Arrived in England

How Two Japanese Sailors First Arrived in England

The young Japanese boy named Otokichi landed in London, England in 1835, but an earlier account suggests that he may not have been the first Japanese to have visited England. The story of the two other Japanese named Cosmas and Christopher, their Christian names, centers around Sir Thomas Cavendish, English explorer, and begins with the hunt for a Spanish galleon. The Capture of the Santa Ana On the morning of November 4, 1587, Sir Thomas Cavendish sighted the Spanish galleon

Book Review: The Golden Spruce

Book Review: The Golden Spruce

To write good creative nonfiction is to read even better creative nonfiction. THE GOLDEN SPRUCE (John Vaillant, Vintage Canada, 2006) offers such a model for any aspiring writer, including myself with my own book OUT TO SEA. Vaillant's book revolves around the survivalist Grant Hadwin in the forests of British Columbia. And like a tree, the story is rooted in twists and tangles of conflicting personalities, even delving deep into the questions of reality and fantasy. The subt

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The Tortilla Incident: In the Footsteps of Bethune

The Tortilla Incident: In the Footsteps of Bethune

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